Facts & Info

FEDERALLY LICENSED RETAILERS are required
to run a background check through the FBI’s
National Instant Criminal Background Check
System (NICS)i when transferring a firearm to
an individual. Firearms retailers rely on NICS
to ensure the lawful transfer of firearms to
law-abiding citizens. About 280 million NICS
background checks have been conducted from
Nov. 30, 1998 through January 31, 2018; more
than 25 million were conducted in 2017 alone.

However, a background check is only as
good as the records in the database. That is why
the firearms industry supports improving the
current NICS system by increasing the number
of prohibiting records states submit to the FBI
databases, helping to prevent illegal transfers of
firearms to those who are prohibited from owning
firearms under current law. Including these
missing records will help ensure more accurate
and complete background checks.

States must improve the NICS database
by submitting any and all records establishing
an individual is a prohibited person, such as
mental health records showing someone is an
"adjudicated mental defective" or involuntarily
committed to a mental institute, as well as official
government records showing someone is the
subject of a domestic violence protective order,
a drug addict or subject to another prohibited
category.ii

The firearms industry has a long record of
supporting background checks.iii The NSSFsupported
background checks prior to the
passage in 1993 of the Brady Act that created a
point of retailer sale background check system
and NICS in 1998. The existing background
check system must be fixed, however, before
Congress even considers whether to expand
background checks, otherwise we’ll just have
more incomplete and inaccurate checks.

FIREARMS & AMMUNITION INDUSTRY CAMPAIGN TO "FIX NICS"

State participation in the NICS system is voluntary as the federal government cannot mandate state participation due to the 10th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution.iv

In 2013, the firearms and ammunition industry investigated how many states were submitting prohibiting mental health and other disqualifying records to NICS. The industry obtained data from the FBI showing that at the end of 2012, far too many states failed to submit these records that established someone is prohibited from owning a firearm under current law. At that time, 19 states had made fewer than 100 records available and 12 of these had made fewer than 10 records available.v

The firearms and ammunition industry found the failure of states to submit prohibiting records unacceptable and launched a campaign in early 2013 to address the problem and improve the effectiveness of NICS. Through a multi-state effort focused on forming coalitions in the states with the fewest submitted records, the industry has dedicated significant resources to helping states overcome the legal, technological, and intrastate coordination challenges preventing effective record sharing.

"FixNICSSM" is about keeping firearms out of the hands of prohibited persons, like the shooter in the Virginia Tech tragedy who was able to purchase a firearm from a federally licensed firearms retailer because his prohibiting mental health records were not in the NICS system.

NSSF’S FIXNICS CAMPAIGN LEADS TO JUMP IN RECORDS

Since FixNICS was launched in 2013 through the end of 2017, the number of disqualifying mental health records submitted to NICS increased by 200 percent to nearly 5 million, from about 1.7 million in December 2012.

This significant increase is driven by states like Pennsylvania, which now has 831,886 records, compared to 1 in 2012. New Jersey, another FixNICS success story, has now submitted 447,563 records, up from 17 in 2012, and is now ranked as the 2nd best state on a per capita basis.

FIREARMS & AMMUNITION INDUSTRY CAMPAIGN TO "FIX NICS"

State participation in the NICS system is voluntary as the federal government cannot mandate state participation due to the 10th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution.iv

In 2013, the firearms and ammunition industry investigated how many states were submitting prohibiting mental health and other disqualifying records to NICS. The industry obtained data from the FBI showing that at the end of 2012, far too many states failed to submit these records that established someone is prohibited from owning a firearm under current law. At that time, 19 states had made fewer than 100 records available and 12 of these had made fewer than 10 records available.v

The firearms and ammunition industry found the failure of states to submit prohibiting records unacceptable and launched a campaign in early 2013 to address the problem and improve the effectiveness of NICS. Through a multi-state effort focused on forming coalitions in the states with the fewest submitted records, the industry has dedicated significant resources to helping states overcome the legal, technological, and intrastate coordination challenges preventing effective record sharing.

"FixNICSSM" is about keeping firearms out of the hands of prohibited persons, like the shooter in the Virginia Tech tragedy who was able to purchase a firearm from a federally licensed firearms retailer because his prohibiting mental health records were not in the NICS system.

NSSF’S FIXNICS CAMPAIGN LEADS TO JUMP IN RECORDS

Since FixNICS was launched in 2013 through the end of 2017, the number of disqualifying mental health records submitted to NICS increased by 200 percent to nearly 5 million, from about 1.7 million in December 2012.

This significant increase is driven by states like Pennsylvania, which now has 831,886 records, compared to 1 in 2012. New Jersey, another FixNICS success story, has now submitted 447,563 records, up from 17 in 2012, and is now ranked as the 2nd best state on a per capita basis.

The FixNICS campaign has won victories in 16 states since 2013. NSSF-backed legislation has experienced unprecedented success across the country as the firearms industry continues to try to prevent prohibited people from gaining access to firearms.

CARROT & STICK APPROACH NEEDED

Our industry isn’t calling on Congress to appropriate new federal funds to fix the NICS system. In these tough fiscal times, the tools are already in place to encourage states to submit more records. Just as states that fail to meet certain drunk-driving law thresholds may lose federal highway funds, states that fail to provide records to NICS should face grant penalties. Congress simply needs to do a better job conditioning current federal monies going to the states to incentivize record sharing.

The NSSF supported the NICS Improvement Amendments Act of 2007, which was enacted to encourage states to submit more records on prohibited individuals to the NICS database.vi However, the law has never been fully implemented due to problems in quantifying records. One incentive not yet implemented would allow a state to obtain a waiver of the matching requirement for National Criminal History Record Improvement Program’s (NCHIP) grants, if a state submits at least 90 percent of its records identifying prohibited individuals. There were also Byrne grant penalties included in the 2007 law that have not yet been implemented.

Congress must rework such a “carrot and stick” approach in a way that can be fully implemented to encourage states to fully participate in NICS. Increasing the number of prohibiting records is the best way to keep prohibited individuals from purchasing firearms, without punishing law-abiding retailers and firearms owners.

i There are 20 full or partial Point of Contact states, which have a state-designated agency responsible for processing some or all NICS background checks on behalf of the federal firearm licensees (FFLs) within the state.

ii Note: Fix NICS does not seek to require all mental health records be submitted to NICS, only those that establish an individual falls into one of the current federal categories of persons prohibited from receiving firearms. The categories are available here in full: https://www.fbi.gov/services/cjis/nics/about-nics

v The National Shooting Sports Foundation obtained data on the number of active adjudicated mental health records in the NICS Index from the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
vi The NICS Improvement Amendments Act of 2007 (NIAA), Pub. L. 110-180

TAKE ACTION

Contact your elected officials
and encourage them
to join the Fix NICS effort today!